WegainaninsightintothehistoryofthewordhusbandbyconsideringtheOldEnglishwordh¿½nde,}meaning“themistressofahouse.”Ifh¿½nde}hadsurvivedintoModernEnglish,husband,itsmodernform,wouldhavebeenveryambiguous.Thefactthath¿½nde}couldmean“mistressofahouse”helpsusseetheelementsthatmakeuptheOldEnglishancestorofourwordhusband.H¿scorrespondstohouse.Theelement-b½eisthefeminineformof-b½,thesecondelementofOldEnglishh¿½nda.}TheentireOldEnglishwordisaborrowingoftheOldIcelandicwordh¿½ndi,}meaning“themasterofahouse.”Thesecondelementinh¿½ndi,b½ndi,}means“amanwhohaslandandstock”andcomesfromtheverbb¿,meaning“tolive,dwell,haveahousehold.”Themasterofthehousewasofcourseusuallythespouseofawifeaswell,anditwouldseemthatourmaincurrentsenseofhusbandarisesfromthisoverlap.

　　考察一下古英语中husbonde这个词,我们就会对husband这个词的历史有一定了解,意思是“房子的女主人”.假如husbonde这个词能留存在现代英语中,作为husbonde的现代形式,它的意思会变得很模糊.husbonde的意思是“房子的女主人”,这有助于我们找出那些构成古英语中我们今天的husband这个词的前身.Hus对应house.-bonde是-bonda的阴性形式,古英语中husbonda的第二个部分.这个古英语中的词整体上借自冰岛语中的husbondi,意思是“房子的男主人”.husbondi,bondi第二部分的意思是“一个拥有土地和牲畜的男子”,它来自动词bua,意思是“生活、居住、拥有一个家”.一座房子的男主人当然通常也是妻子的配偶,看起来今天husband这个词的中心意思源于这种重叠